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#BREAKING Israel strikes Iran, confirmed by US official

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by MDWLive.net

Israel has carried out a military strike inside Iran, a US official told CNN Friday, the latest move in a dangerous escalation that threatens to push the already volatile region into all out war.

0640 GMT

  • US officials have confirmed that Israelhas carried out military operations against Iran. The officials said Israel warned the Biden administration earlier on Thursday that a strike was coming in the next 24 to 48 hours. According to CNN, the Israelis assured their US counterparts that Iran’s nuclear facilities would not be targeted.
  • Iranian state media reported that air defence batteries had been activated after reports of explosions near a major airbase close to the city of Isfahan, later adding that drones had been brought down in the province.
  • Isfahan is home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site. State television described all sites in the area as “fully safe”.
  • The airbase close to Isfahan has long been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats – purchased before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
  • Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran about 4.30am local time. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed. Iran later announced it had suspended flights over some cities. FlyDubai has cancelled all flight to Tehran on Friday.
  • Tensions across the region remain high after Iran launched hundreds of drones as well as cruise missiles towards Israel on Saturday, in the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on the Jewish state, in response to the 1 April strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which killed a senior figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards and eight other officers.
  • On Thursday, Iran’s foreign minister told CNN that if Israel chooses to retaliate, Tehran’s response would be immediate. “If the Israeli regime commits the great error once again our response will be decisive, definitive and regretful for them,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.

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